History, Opinions, Imaginings

The Mulleneaux

The Mulleneaux’ were two large brothers out of the west in the 1930s and 1940s for Green Bay.

Older brother Lee was a 6’2” 220 pound center who attended Northern Arizona and joined the New York Giants in 1932. Moving to the expansion Cincinnati Reds in 1933, Mulleneaux stayed with the team until it went bankrupt during the 1934 season. At that point the 0-8 Reds were purchased by the semipro St. Louis Gunners, and Mulleneaux was one of firve Cincinnati players to transfer to St. Louis to finish the season.

Lee spent 1935-36 with Pittsburgh and then jumped to the rival American Football League in 1937. Playing for the original Cincinnati Bengal franchise, he was named All-League at center. When the AFL folded, Lee signed with the Chicago Cardinals in 1938. At midseason, Curly Lambeau acquired Lee to join his brother Carl in Green Bay. The next season, 1939, Lee spent the entire season on the inactive list, but earned a full championship share anyway.

Younger brother Carl was nicknamed “Moose” and the 6’3” 210 pound end played opposite Don Hutson for five years, interrupted by three years of military service. Carl was not drafted out of Utah State and spent a year out of football before signing with Lambeau as a free agent in 1938. He was named second-team All-Pro in 1940, missed the 1942-44 seasons due to the War and then returned in 1945. His career ended abruptly in week one of 1946 when a brutal blind side hit by John Schiechl of the Bears dislocated five vertebrae, brokeCarl’s nose and five teeth and left Mulleneaux with a concussion.

Carl began a long career in coaching in 1947 with St. Louis University. He then moved to Arizona in 1948, Texas Tech in 1951, Fullerton in 1953 and Santa Monica City College in 1954. While his football coaching ended in the early 1960s, he was a champion golf coach at Santa Monica from 1955-81 before retiring.

Mulleneaux only caught 44 passes for his career, but he averaged 19.3 yards per catch and scored 11 times. He was elected to the Packer Hall of Fame in 1983.